Oliver Schopf is a political cartoonist. He was born in Kitzbühel in 1960 and now lives in Vienna. As a student, he started his cartoonist career for präsent. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. As a freelancer he supports the Austrian newspapers Wochenpresse, Die Presse, and Neue Kronen Zeitung. Since 1988, he has been pursuing his career as cartoonist, illustrator, courtroom sketch artist and full-page cartoons for the automotive and scientific topics at Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard. Staff member of Cartoon Arts International/New York Times Syndicate in New York and Los Angeles, as well as of Cartoon Movement in Amsterdam, and of Courrier International, a weekly editorial in Paris. On a monthly basis he also draws for the Swiss satire magazine Nebelspalter. Around 2005, he contributed regular—including exclusive—articles for the Swiss daily newspaper Züricher Tagesanzeiger. From 2008 until 2022 he contributed a weekly cartoon for the commentary section of the Monday issue of German daily newspaper Süddeutschen Zeitung, as well as other illustrations for the major German daily newspaper.
Numerous domestic and international exhibitions, several awards of international cartoon competitions. Oliver Schopf’s works have been printed by leading newspapers and web platforms from all over the world (International Herald Tribune/The New York Times, POLITICO, Newsweek, Le Monde, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, The Guardian, El Pais, Gazetta Wyborcza, La Stampa, The Japan Times—this goes just to mention a few), many of his exhibits can now be found in prominent cartoon museums, private collections and properties worldwide.
Author of the book„Große Europäer“ (Major Europeans), published by Ibera in 1994, a sketched portrait collection of major European figures. Countless book illustrations and covers, e.g. for the “Bierkatechismus” Bierpapst Conrad Seidl, published by Deuticke in 2000. Together with Walter Wippersberg, he was the illustrator and co-author of the children’s book “Der Ritter von der traurigen Gestalt” (The Knight of the Mournful Guise) a retelling of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, published in 2001 by Obelisk, Innsbruck.
On the occasion of the 15-year anniversary of Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard, in October 2003, major exhibition with Jean Veenenbos and Dieter Zehentmayr in the Krems Cartoon Museum. This was followed by the publication of the book “Kein Kommentar” (No Comment”, published by Ueberreuter in 2003, a collection of the best 60 works of that time. During 2007-2008, his daily graphic and artistic coverage of the BAWAG trial (spanning 117 trial days) made national headlines, and the Vienna Museum acquired the original works. In 2013, a comprehensive retrospective of the last 20 years was published in book form: Beim Schopf gepackt (Pulled up by One’s Bootstraps), recordings from politics and society, published by Molden.
In recent years, the artist has focused more on the art form of comics, which he calls “BilderGeschichte” (Picture Story), producing them for Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard in Vienna as well as for the Swiss magazine Nebelspalter. Observations on society and politics, as well as on economics, science, automotive engineering, religion, and philosophy, are historically analysed and visually re-examined in their unity and interrelation. Find more in the archive (in German): Aus der Welt des Automobils, BilderGeschichte, and Wissenschaft & Forschung.
2018/19: Experimenting with live drawings: During a science interview with quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger and at a concert of the Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra for their 2019/20 program brochure. Brief, quickly captured sketches and notes during the event, followed by refinement and watercolour rendering in the studio.
